Yuri Felshtinsky well remembers when he spent the better part of five hours pleading for the life of his friend Alexander Litvinenko. It was May 22, 2000. Litvinenko, a colonel in the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, had just spent four months in prison, having gone public with allegations that senior secret police officers were involved in killings and kidnappings for financial gain. Now he was free, but for how long? Felshtinsky called up Litvinenko's former boss, Maj. Gen.

If you're looking for Russia's most notorious international outlaw, try his new office in parliament. Andrei Lugovoy, the prime suspect in the 2006 radioactive poisoning death of a former Russian spy in London, is a celebrated figure these days in the Russian capital. Not only has Moscow brushed aside extradition requests from Britain, this onetime bodyguard has just been elected to the marble halls of the Duma, the lower house of parliament. Lugovoy says he was framed.

An expert on Russian intelligence was critically injured in a shooting in the driveway of his suburban Washington home. The shooting of Paul Joyal, 53, came days after he accused the Russian government of involvement in the poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. The FBI was assisting in the investigation. The motive for Thursday's attack is unknown.

A British cultural organization reopened offices in two cities in defiance of an order to close, drawing an angry response from Russia, which promised punitive measures. Britain's ambassador said any action against the British Council in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg would violate international law. The council, which acts as the cultural arm of the British Embassy, reopened its offices after the holidays. Ties between Britain and Russia are badly frayed by the 2006 poisoning death in London of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

An exiled Russian billionaire said he would be willing to speak to Russian police investigating the death of former spy Alexander Litvinenko -- but only if they are first checked for weapons and poison. Boris Berezovsky, a fierce critic of the Kremlin, was a friend of Litvinenko, who died in November several weeks after falling ill with what was later determined to be radiation poisoning.

Police have concluded that the radioactive polonium-210 that poisoned a former Russian spy was added to his tea at a London hotel, British and American television stations reported. Investigators have identified the teapot believed to have contained the radioactive tea, which eventually killed Alexander Litvinenko in November, Sky News said, citing unnamed Scotland Yard officials. ABC News had a similar report, citing an unidentified official.

A British cultural organization reopened offices in two cities in defiance of an order to close, drawing an angry response from Russia, which promised punitive measures. Britain's ambassador said any action against the British Council in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg would violate international law. The council, which acts as the cultural arm of the British Embassy, reopened its offices after the holidays. Ties between Britain and Russia are badly frayed by the 2006 poisoning death in London of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government ordered the expulsion of four Russian diplomats Monday over the Kremlin's refusal to extradite the key suspect in the fatal poisoning of a former KGB spy. Alexander Litvinenko died Nov. 23 in a London hospital after ingesting radioactive polonium-210. In a deathbed statement, the 43-year-old accused Russian President Vladimir V. Putin of being behind his killing.

Exiled Russian "oligarch" Boris Berezovsky, a prominent critic of the Kremlin who has fought extradition to his country for years, agreed to be questioned here Friday by a Russian investigator examining the killing of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. The outspoken billionaire has been waging a free-spending campaign to unseat President Vladimir V. Putin, whose government he believes is behind Litvinenko's death.

ANOTHER KGB poisoning? Sounds like the 1950s all over again. Yet here we are, nearly in 2007, with Russia's ex-spy-chief-turned-president running a country where nasty crimes still cast suspicion on the state security forces. Of course, Moscow's foreign intelligence service emphatically denies that it had anything to do with the hideous poisoning death in London of the former-KGB-spy-turned-dissident Alexander Litvinenko, who died Thursday night.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government ordered the expulsion of four Russian diplomats Monday over the Kremlin's refusal to extradite the key suspect in the fatal poisoning of a former KGB spy. Alexander Litvinenko died Nov. 23 in a London hospital after ingesting radioactive polonium-210. In a deathbed statement, the 43-year-old accused Russian President Vladimir V. Putin of being behind his killing.

Exiled Russian "oligarch" Boris Berezovsky, a prominent critic of the Kremlin who has fought extradition to his country for years, agreed to be questioned here Friday by a Russian investigator examining the killing of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. The outspoken billionaire has been waging a free-spending campaign to unseat President Vladimir V. Putin, whose government he believes is behind Litvinenko's death.

An expert on Russian intelligence was critically injured in a shooting in the driveway of his suburban Washington home. The shooting of Paul Joyal, 53, came days after he accused the Russian government of involvement in the poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. The FBI was assisting in the investigation. The motive for Thursday's attack is unknown.

Yuri Felshtinsky well remembers when he spent the better part of five hours pleading for the life of his friend Alexander Litvinenko. It was May 22, 2000. Litvinenko, a colonel in the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, had just spent four months in prison, having gone public with allegations that senior secret police officers were involved in killings and kidnappings for financial gain. Now he was free, but for how long? Felshtinsky called up Litvinenko's former boss, Maj. Gen.

Police have concluded that the radioactive polonium-210 that poisoned a former Russian spy was added to his tea at a London hotel, British and American television stations reported. Investigators have identified the teapot believed to have contained the radioactive tea, which eventually killed Alexander Litvinenko in November, Sky News said, citing unnamed Scotland Yard officials. ABC News had a similar report, citing an unidentified official.

An exiled Russian billionaire said he would be willing to speak to Russian police investigating the death of former spy Alexander Litvinenko -- but only if they are first checked for weapons and poison. Boris Berezovsky, a fierce critic of the Kremlin, was a friend of Litvinenko, who died in November several weeks after falling ill with what was later determined to be radiation poisoning.

If you're looking for Russia's most notorious international outlaw, try his new office in parliament. Andrei Lugovoy, the prime suspect in the 2006 radioactive poisoning death of a former Russian spy in London, is a celebrated figure these days in the Russian capital. Not only has Moscow brushed aside extradition requests from Britain, this onetime bodyguard has just been elected to the marble halls of the Duma, the lower house of parliament. Lugovoy says he was framed.

A former Russian spy who said he had been poisoned died Thursday night at a London hospital after a mysterious and rapid decline that left doctors puzzled over the cause of death, officials said. Alexander Litvinenko, a fierce critic of the Russian government, had suffered heart failure and was heavily sedated as medical staff struggled to pinpoint what had made the 43-year-old critically ill.

ANOTHER KGB poisoning? Sounds like the 1950s all over again. Yet here we are, nearly in 2007, with Russia's ex-spy-chief-turned-president running a country where nasty crimes still cast suspicion on the state security forces. Of course, Moscow's foreign intelligence service emphatically denies that it had anything to do with the hideous poisoning death in London of the former-KGB-spy-turned-dissident Alexander Litvinenko, who died Thursday night.

A former Russian spy who said he had been poisoned died Thursday night at a London hospital after a mysterious and rapid decline that left doctors puzzled over the cause of death, officials said. Alexander Litvinenko, a fierce critic of the Russian government, had suffered heart failure and was heavily sedated as medical staff struggled to pinpoint what had made the 43-year-old critically ill.